Students Want Faculty to Read Petition; Proctors Call Core a 'Step Backward'

About 40 out of 60 freshman proctors have signed a petition calling for the rejection of the Core Curriculum and recommending reconsidering general education reforms with alumni, students, administrators and Faculty members allowed to participate in the decision-making process.

The petition, which makes 11 specific objections to the Core Curriculum, states that the core does not give students enough academic options.

The petition also criticizes the Core for stressing "the traditions of white Western Civilization" and neglecting the needs of minorities.

Not Bad, Considering

James Kulakowski, a freshman proctor and the main organizer of the petition drive, said yesterday 40 signatures was "not bad considering a lot of the proctors are senior advisors and have Faculty connections and consequently didn't want to put their names to it."

Since Harvard is a trend-setter for educational policy in America, the proctors are worried about the effect the Core Curriculum will have on other schools, Kulakowski said.

"We're not sure it's at all good to raise the spectre of a more restrictive education," he added.

The organizers of the petition drive will send copies of the petition tonight to administrators, heads of departments and Faculty members who are involved with the Core Curriculum.

Kulakowski said he is trying to get in touch with members of the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) who might present the petition at the Faculty meeting Tuesday, although he added that "given their position, it's unlikely they will."

The petition states that the core "as an expression of education philosophy retreats to an out-moded conception of liberal arts education."

The Core Curriculum encourages the proliferation of large lecture courses, does not address the problem of the quality of teaching and creates difficulties for pre-med students concentrating in non-science fields, the petition adds.